Taking it easy

Well it has been a strange couple of weeks. I am still getting out running but not nearly to this summers level. It's all a bit odd not having a huge objective to aim for as of yet. My distances are varying from 10-15km a few times a week. My best run was from Brevent to Saint Gervais then I got the Tramway Du Mont Blanc back up to Bellevue then ran down the mountain and home. A total of 30km and I felt really good the whole day even after doing an all out sprint from the Col De Forclaz for 6km downhill to the train station thinking I would miss the last train and ended up having 15 minutes to spare.

Awesome ridge run on the left

Sprint time to the train

My other runs have been the usual Plan Aiguille to Montenvers then down to Chamonix , and a couple of Brevent to Flegere laps. Most lifts are closing now here as we head to end of season and the town is getting really quiet as we slowly start to get ready for winter. So most runs now involve a mandatory 1000m hike before I can properly stretch my legs.

I had a little trip down to the south coast to visit some friends there and finally got my rock shoes back on for some very easy climbing on the sea cliffs near Finale Ligure. I have never climbed somewhere like that before and it was awesome clipping into a belay about a half metre above the Mediterranean. Getting smashed by some huge waves was also pretty fun.

I am not really an Ocean person but admit
this was a nice change from the Mountains

Sea is a slightly different colour to the Clyde back home

Happy to be back Climbing

Abseiling down to the sea

Just after the first wave struck!

I am actually getting a few little running injuries as well which is not very common for me , except for my knee which I now know the problem as I went to see a physio here in Chamonix who told me my knee was fine that it was my hip , right calf and lower spine that was the problem , that's all! I have some exercises to do and I go back and see Neil(physio) next week to see where I am at.

My right knee is a little sore in the IT band area so I hope this is very small and doesn't come to anything but I will keep doing the good old RICE to help it along. The most worrying thing happened today on lunch. I went out for a 12km run and on the descent my left calf just popped. It didn't feel like an over stretch but more like a snap or proper tear and it was agony and I had to walk/limp down the rest of the route. Not a good sign and it is something I have never felt before , it is still really painful now so I will give it a few days rest and see how it is but after doing a bit of research I have a feeling I could be doing no running or anything on my calf for 2 weeks meaning I might just recover for my 10km on Oct 12th. I am not too bothered if I miss that but I do not want to miss my 50k in the Lake District on Oct 20th. I am just glad this problem has happened now as I was very lucky to go all summer without anything major when training. I have a feeling though that this is now my body telling me to take it easy after a lot of summer training(870 miles running since mid April) and obviously running my first 100 mile race has taken it's toll on me.

20 mins before the pop in my calf

So I really do not know what is going to happen in the next couple of weeks , I had planned a few long runs on my days off but that has all changed now and looks like I won't be able to climb with this problem either so it may be a waiting game and I hate doing nothing.